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Monday, May 20, 2013

Balcony Garden: Harvest Monday #25

After two very false starts in trying to grow rosemary (the plants carked it both times) I've finally got a really healthy, prolific rosemary bush. It's doing so well that I've just had to relocate it to a bigger pot. This made me VERY nervous as I worry that if I transplant things I'll upset them and they'll die on me.

Of course the downside to SO much rosemary is that I really don't have much of a clue of what to do with it ...other than a seasoning for lamb (and there's only so many lamb roasts a gal can eat). I did try making some rosemary + cheese "oat biscuits" that turned out very VERY badly (more on that another time perhaps) and I was running out of ideas. So what to make?

I've recently fallen in love with potato and rosemary pizzas (having had two very excellent specimens at Napoli in Bocca in Haberfield) so it seemed like a pretty logical thing to try making. It's also very simple - pizza base, drizzle of oil, sprinkle of salt, smattering of finely chopped rosemary, some cheese thrown here and there. Cover the whole lot with thinly sliced potatoes, drizzle with more oil + rosemary and bung into the oven. Wait...wait...wait...and eat.

And how did it taste? Well, I won't be putting Napoli in Bocca out of business anytime soon - but it was good. Really really good! So good that I've made this pizza quite a few times since this initial experiment.

I'm quite proud of this meal as I didn't use a recipe. For the first time ever I was able to identify flavours (albeit it simple ones like olive oil, salt + garlic) I'd tasted in other similar, professionally made pizzas and put them together to make something quiet decent myself.

So tell me dear reader (lol, I've always wanted to write that) what do you use rosemary for in your cooking. HELP ME!

13 comments:

I'm a lot like you - large rosemary bush - no idea what to use it for unless a recipe asks for it. May be using some tonight now for a potato & rosemary pizza after seeing this. I have a few pizza dough balls in the freezer ready to go....

I was given 3 healthy sprigs of rosemary last week, and I've been googling 'what to do with rosemary' ever since. There's not much out there (pizza looks fab, though). I ended up using some in a brown soup. Tastes better than it sounds!

Do you know what's funny with rosemary? Almost everything you read about how to grow it says that it should be in the sun. But when we moved into our house last year, in the freezing cold, frosty morning'd Blue Mountains, there was a rouge rosemary bush in the shade, doing really well. I've not moved it, it gets barely any sun but it is the strongest, healthiest plant! I actually snip sprigs from it and put it in a vase with some parsley as I just love the smell wafting through the house.

Mel, good for you on growing rosemary. There is nothing nicer than popping outside and picking a fresh sprig when you need it. We love it on pizza (yours looks great!). I use it with roasted vegetables... and meats, of course. The best I ever tasted was in a Sydney hotel resto that did tempura rosemary. It was awesome. Saveur has some gorgeous recipe ideas http://www.saveur.com/article/-/Rosemary-Recipes Enjoy!

Your pizzas look great! I find rosemary almost impossible to kill. I actually don't eat much of it at all so I decided to dig mine up but I must have left a bit of root stock in the ground because the next year it just came back. I have made chickpea and rosemary soup in the past which was vaguely interesting.

The flavours are definitely spot on in your pizza! I like to make focaccia when I have an abundance of rosemary. But I also do this trick and freeze left over herbs in olive oil in an icecube tray: http://www.thekitchn.com/freeze-herbs-in-olive-oil-173648

I have rosemary in my back yard but it just doesn't ever get big and I don't use it much so we just co-exist peacefully but I do love the sound of your thriving plant.

You can put a bit of rosemary into soups and stews - I think i have made a potato and rosemary soda bread, It goes well with potato, cheese and white beans - seems roasemary and white foods go together. Personally I think I would be happy to eat all your rosemary in those pizzas - look fantastic

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My "adventures" run to admin assistant by day, struggling cook (and novice seamstress) by
night. I need to eat out to ensure I don't starve. I love catching up
with friends over something yummy. Cheap and cheerful are my favourite
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Sometimes I try to cook, but it mostly never ends well (though I am
getting better in the kitchen even if I do say so myself)! I'm a foodie
blog addict...not that I read them at work of course.

Trying my hardest
to be an ethical eater.
Learning to sew, enjoy growing edibles on my small balcony and I foster kittens for Cat Protection Society.

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